In Memoriam: Lance Corporal Jourdan L. Grez

Lance Corporal Jourdan Lin Grez, USMC, was assigned to the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, which was stationed in Roanoke, Virginia. He was attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force when he was deployed to Iraq. Though he hailed from Harrisonburg, Virginia, Grez was a James River High School alumnus, a member of the graduating class of 1999. He was killed in action on 11 May, 2005 when his amphibious assault vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device during combat in Karabilah, Iraq. Grez was only twenty-four at the time of his death. He was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on 28 May, 2005. For more information, please see the content below.

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About the Unit

James River High School NJROTC was commissioned in 2009 with CDR Greenwald and Petty Officer Davis as SNSI (Senior Naval Science Instructor) and NSI (Naval Science Instructor) respectively. Since then, the unit has grown in both size and prestige, earning the status of Distinguished Unit in 2013, Unit Achievement in 2014 and Distinguished Unit again in 2015 and 2016, under the leadership of Chief Petty Officer Brian Mack, who replaced PO Davis after his move to South Carolina. At the end of the 2015-2016 academic term, Chief Mack was selected for training as a Chesterfield County Firefighter. He still makes sure to support the unit in any way he can, such as attending unit competitions, but due to his rigorous training schedule he is unable to continue as our NSI. His position was filled by Colonel Bill Barrett, US Army (ret.) until January 2017, when Master Chief Steven Prince, a former preacher and published author, stepped up to fill the position.

The unit strives to live out the Navy’s core values of “Honor, Courage, and Commitment” in everything we do, including performing community service, providing ceremonial color guards for events, competing against other units in military drill, physical training, “Raiders” events, orienteering, air rifle marksmanship, academics, and uniform personnel inspection (UPI). In fact, 2016 marks the first year (of what we hope will be many) that the JRHS Drill, PT, and Academic teams ranked in the top ten schools in Area 5 – which consists of all NJROTC Units in Virginia and Maryland – earning the unit a place at the prestigious Area 5 Drill, Field, and Academic championship in Norfolk, Virginia. The Academic Team proceeded to place second out of all 57 units in Area 5, a truly impressive accomplishment.

For more specific information, please check under Unit News for posts on some of our activities and achievements, or visit the pages for the different parts of the unit.